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A review by pastelwriter
The Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The books I tend to struggle with rating and talking about the most are often the ones where I feel like I have an understanding of the author’s Vision, but ultimately didn’t feel satisfied with it.
The thing about this novel was that I was excited to read more from Silvia Moreno-Garcia tackling aspects of film. I loved Silver Nitrate, which heavily has to do with film, but this book did not hit the way I was hoping it would. It just didn’t.
This felt like it was trying too hard to be too many things. This is seen alone in the narration choices. We have part of this narrated in first person from characters looking back on the time while they were involved in the filming of The Seventh Veil of Salome. We have third person narration from two key characters during the filming of The Seventh Veil of Salome. Finally, we have scenes from the “script” of The Seventh Veil of Salome. None of this blends well together. It presented a narrative structure that felt unfocused.
Personally, I would’ve preferred if we didn’t have the “script” sections of this novel. I would’ve loved if we focused exclusively on Vera and Nancy and their contrasting experiences in Hollywood. However, with that noted, it means I would’ve also preferred the removal of the first person sections. For the first person sections to work better, I think the whole novel would’ve had to be written this way in order to fully carry out the vibes suggested by it.
Regardless. I did really love the portions of this book following Vera and Nancy. I was always deeply engaged while reading those. Part of why I would’ve loved it to be focused on them was because I did like the aspects of this that explored the racism and micro aggressions actors of color experienced during this time. It felt extremely relevant and a contrast to other existing novels that explore the same time period.
Ultimately, I cannot rate this book any higher or lower than 3 stars. I still find in here evidence of what it is that can sometimes make me love a Silvia Moreno-Garcia novel. It’s why I’ll keep reading her books despite the fact that I don’t always love them.
I didn’t want to conclude this review without mentioning a key aspect of it which was the ending. Despite the fact that I found myself charmed by the relationship between Vera and Jay, it felt so real when he chose his comfort and stability over a relationship with her. It makes me feel like the ending was all the more significant. It ends with his proclamation that he has in fact chosen her, and they’ll have this incredible life of artists going forward…but then that’s abruptly ended with his murder. It begs the question of whether he was, in fact, going to follow through with that or if Vera is left with this beautiful dream that may have all been a lie. She can at least go on with the “hope” that he’d meant it, but she’ll never actually know because the opportunity was taken from them both. I don’t know. The whole thing stuck with me.
The thing about this novel was that I was excited to read more from Silvia Moreno-Garcia tackling aspects of film. I loved Silver Nitrate, which heavily has to do with film, but this book did not hit the way I was hoping it would. It just didn’t.
This felt like it was trying too hard to be too many things. This is seen alone in the narration choices. We have part of this narrated in first person from characters looking back on the time while they were involved in the filming of The Seventh Veil of Salome. We have third person narration from two key characters during the filming of The Seventh Veil of Salome. Finally, we have scenes from the “script” of The Seventh Veil of Salome. None of this blends well together. It presented a narrative structure that felt unfocused.
Personally, I would’ve preferred if we didn’t have the “script” sections of this novel. I would’ve loved if we focused exclusively on Vera and Nancy and their contrasting experiences in Hollywood. However, with that noted, it means I would’ve also preferred the removal of the first person sections. For the first person sections to work better, I think the whole novel would’ve had to be written this way in order to fully carry out the vibes suggested by it.
Regardless. I did really love the portions of this book following Vera and Nancy. I was always deeply engaged while reading those. Part of why I would’ve loved it to be focused on them was because I did like the aspects of this that explored the racism and micro aggressions actors of color experienced during this time. It felt extremely relevant and a contrast to other existing novels that explore the same time period.
Ultimately, I cannot rate this book any higher or lower than 3 stars. I still find in here evidence of what it is that can sometimes make me love a Silvia Moreno-Garcia novel. It’s why I’ll keep reading her books despite the fact that I don’t always love them.